The WHY of Ungrading - E070

The EduGals Podcast

This week, we are digging into the WHY of ungrading. In part 1 of this 2 part series, we are talking about our observations around assessment and evaluation as well as why we think ungrading is a conversation that needs to happen in education.
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**For detailed show notes, please visit our website at https://edugals.com/70**
Our Big Why:

• Grades close down conversations and feedback - feels too final
• Shifting the focus away from grades towards learning
• Emotion is tied to grades
• Grades are not good feedback, they are just a single number and doesn’t reflect the entire learning process
• Grades encourage competitiveness over collaboration
• Can negatively affect your classroom community
• Looking at previous grades can change your perspective and builds in bias
• Previous grades can be affected by so many extenuating circumstances
• Previous grades can make you highly suspicious of your students
• Get to know your students first, don’t look at previous grades
• Ungrading helps students to be more open to feedback and improving
• Consider a feedback first approach with reflection via Google Forms BEFORE releasing grades
• Grades provide finality. Without grades, the learning continues
• Language matters - how are you talking about your students?
• Students who learn how to play the game of school well are rewarded with good grades but are they actually learning?
• Self-paced, mastery-based grading approaches work well with ungrading by minimizing the grading scale
• Needs to begin with a shift in mindset - you want your students to succeed and get good grades
• What is the purpose of a unit test? What does it achieve?
• Start by trusting your students
• Talk to your admin to make sure they are onboard
• Promotes student metacognition - more reflective about their own learning
• Podcasting is great for reflection and learning!
• How equitable are grades and grading policies?
  • Learning skills in Ontario are Eurocentric - how equitable are they for all of our students?
  • Learning skills are a good place for self-assessment (Google Forms is helpful here)
  • Learning skills leak into grades - are you grading compliance or learning?
• Start by learning, reading and sharing about ungrading

Resources Mentioned:

• Jesse Stommel - How to Ungrade: A Workshop
• When Report Cards Go Out On Fridays
• Ungrading: Why Rating Undermines Learning (and

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